El Paso to host New Poor People’s Campaign events Sunday

El Paso will be the first border city to host the New Poor People’s Campaign led by North Carolina civil rights activist the Rev. William Barber II.

Barber, co-chairman of the New Poor People’s Campaign, which is trying to revive the movement initiated by Martin Luther King Jr. 50 years ago, will participate in a community march in El Paso beginning at 3 p.m. Sunday at Café Mayapan, 200 Texas Ave.

The march will be followed by a meeting at 4 p.m. at the Armijo Recreation Center, 700 E. Seventh Ave., in the Segundo Barrio.

Barber, known for his role in organizing North Carolina’s Moral Mondays, will be the guest speaker. The event also will feature testimonials from border residents who will talk about "Dreamers," farmworkers, poverty, separation of families and workers' rights for women.

Fernando Garcia, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights, said that for the past two years, his organization has been involved in reviving the Poor People’s Campaign with the objective of bringing border communities together and starting a national movement against racism, discrimination and poverty.

“We also need to embrace human rights for all communities in the nation,” Garcia said.

For now, El Paso is the only border community considered to take part in the campaign, which will travel to multiple states in the U.S., he said. “At this point, this is the only border event.”

Garcia expects people from Texas and New Mexico to attend.

He said El Paso is relevant to the cause because the majority of its residents are Hispanic and it’s one of the poorest cities in the country.

Garcia said Hispanics aren’t the only group being criminalized in the United States.

“There are multiple communities along the nation from different colors and backgrounds that are on the same oppression system, such as racism, xenophobia, criminalization, militarization and poverty,” he said.

The Poor People’s campaign was launched by King before he was assassinated in 1968. At the time, he was bringing together African-Americans, Hispanics and other minority groups for the campaign, Garcia said.